fortress

as in stronghold
a structure or place from which one can resist attack the boys built a snow fortress and then challenged the neighborhood kids to an in-your-face snowball fight

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of fortress But the Kremlin is trying to restore momentum to its faltering assault on the fortress city of Pokrovsk—and marshalled a dozen armored vehicles including at least one modern T-90M tank. David Axe, Forbes.com, 30 Mar. 2025 The tower’s slender triangles look diaphanous from a distance, but from the sidewalk the building resembles a fortress, with a 186-foot concrete-and-steel base safeguarding the 94 stories above from bombings. David W. Dunlap, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025 Much of what ensues takes place at the boss’s preposterously grandiose lodge — nay, castlelike fortress — tucked in wilderness and protected by armed guards. Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025 The fish may have helped the survival of this fortress-colony that was both stricken with drought and fostering turbulent relationships with the Native inhabitants. Logan Kistler, The Conversation, 20 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for fortress
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fortress
Noun
  • Introduced through mosquitoes that first reached the island in the 1800s, climate change has now ushered these deadly vessels of destruction into the bird’s last stronghold.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 17 Apr. 2025
  • What To Know The Houthis say the U.S. military campaign, aimed at their stronghold in Sana'a and other parts of Yemen, has not deterred their military capacities and attacks.
    Arick Wierson, MSNBC Newsweek, 16 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The Syrian government moved military forces into the ancient citadel overlooking Palmyra.
    Jane Arraf, NPR, 17 Apr. 2025
  • Archaeologists believe the Incan citadel was built in the 1420s and abandoned sometime in the mid 1500s, around the time Spanish conquistadors invaded the Inca Empire.
    Hannah Edgar, ARTnews.com, 24 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • The countryside is dotted with ancient fortifications built by the Cathars, a semi-Christian sect that flourished here in the 12th century.
    Sophie Friedman, AFAR Media, 3 Apr. 2025
  • The Japanese then planned to construct a chain of island fortifications across the Pacific that would dissuade a U.S. counteroffensive and force an early settlement on Japanese terms.
    Stephen Biddle, Foreign Affairs, 19 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • River cruise lines also sail from Paris to the beaches of Normandy on the Seine; along the ornate castles and vineyards of the scenic Loire Valley; and through Burgundy and Provence on the Rhône and Saône Rivers.
    Jeri Clausing, AFAR Media, 10 Apr. 2025
  • The show, hosted by actor Alan Cumming and set in a remote Scottish castle, features reality TV veterans and celebrities working together—and often deceiving each other—in challenges for a cash prize.
    Raja Krishnamoorthi, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • In recent years, Gov. Ron DeSantis has helped install political allies at the helm of public colleges and universities in an effort to remake Florida’ higher-education into a bastion of conservatism.
    Ana Ceballos, Miami Herald, 9 Apr. 2025
  • In Singapore, an ultra-connected free trade bastion known for treading a cautious diplomatic line, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong pulled few punches in a message to his fellow citizens over the weekend.
    Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 7 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • Long ago, the British failed to take the fort, and Francis Scott Key wrote a poem.
    Maya C. Popa, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
  • Ava thanks him for holding down the fort so well in her absence, and finally, peace is restored at Abbott Elementary.
    Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Fortress.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fortress. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.

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